When Detroit Mumford cornerback Cedric Everson III committed to Georgia Tech in late October he had more than 20 scholarship offers from BCS conference football programs. And when he de-committed from the Yellow Jackets in late January, most of the schools that had previously offered, tried to make another run at Everson III.

Actually, those schools never stopped chasing Everson. West Virginia, UCLA and Florida were among the most persistent.

Michigan State also stayed in touch with Everson III and his father. But the instability in the Spartan football program prevented Detroit's top athlete from giving Michigan State serious consideration.